Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has started virtual meetings with potential investors ahead of the planned IPO of its drilling unit, two sources told Reuters.
According to the sources, ADNOC, which supplies nearly 3% of global oil demand, has invited a handful of international and local banks to take part in the process of the public share sale of ADNOC Drilling, which is due later this month.
ADNOC declined to comment.
ADNOC Drilling owns and operates a large fleet of rigs, including 75 onshore rigs, 20 offshore jackup rigs, and 11 well water rigs. If the deal does go ahead, the IPO size could be more than $1 billion.
ADNOC chief executive, Sultan Al-Jaber, has been chief architect of the transformation strategy the company embarked on more than four years ago. Al-Jaber has helped build an investment team to monetise assets and raise funds from international private equity groups.
This would not be the first time the state oil giant lists a unit on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange market. In late 2017, ADNOC Distribution was sold at 3.1 billion dirhams ($844 million).
